Age-Friendly Pioneers - portland

Linda Weare
Director, Portland Office of Elder Affairs
Facilitator, Age-Frienldy portland steering committee

In the spring of 2015, Portland became the first Maine town to join the AARP Network of Age Friendly Communities. This came about when Lori Parham, AARP Maine Director at the time, approached city leaders asking if Portland would like to join this network. Not knowing exactly what it would entail, but agreeing that anything to help older adults must be good, the City decided to sign up. I remember the mayor asking me if I could make this happen in Portland without additional staff or funding. “Sure, no problem,” I replied dubiously. How hard could it be?  AARP provided some guidance on how to get started and I clung to that toolkit for dear life! 

Our community needs assessment indicated that many older adults were unaware of health and social service resources, transportation options, recreational programs, and opportunities for civic engagement available to them in the Portland community. In response to this, our steering committee (in collaboration with members of Portland’s Disability Advisory Council) developed a comprehensive 24-page Age-Friendly Portland Resource Guide. The booklet, which contains information about vital services and amenities available in Portland, as well as some State and County resources, was printed for distribution in 2018. It was also made available in digital format to be shared, searched, or downloaded from the City of Portland webpage. An updated second edition was created in 2020. With help from the AARP national office, this version was translated into four languages most often spoken by immigrant populations in Portland; French, Spanish, Arabic, and Somali. 

Age-Friendly Portland provides a Volunteer Snow Shoveling Program in which neighborhood volunteers are recruited to shovel walks, steps, and sidewalks for Portland residents age 65+. The service ensures that older adults can get in and out of their home safely after a snowstorm, first responders will have access, and that fuel and mail deliveries will continue uninterrupted. It also prevents older residents from being penalized if they are unable to comply with a municipal ordinance requiring homeowners to keep the sidewalk in front of their home free of snow and ice. This program is popular with older adults in need of help, as well as volunteers of all ages wishing to give something back to their community. Continuing to expand each year, the program currently engages 138 volunteers and volunteer coordinators working tirelessly in 13 Portland neighborhoods.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and the whole world waited for a vaccine and medicine to protect us, it was suddenly dangerous for older adults to go to the grocery store. In one of our proudest moments, Age-Friendly Portland recruited 75 volunteers to shop and provide contact-less grocery deliveries to older Portland residents confined to their homes. The Grocery Delivery for Portland Seniors program that popped up overnight is a testament to the power of ingenuity, community connectivity, and the innate goodness of people who just want to help out a neighbor in need. 

In the earliest days of planning, Age-Friendly Portland failed to offer the business community a place at the table. This regrettable mistake and “learning moment” was corrected in a big way in 2018 when Portland launched an Age-Friendly Business Program. Working in collaboration with Portland Downtown and the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, we created an informational brochure, an eligibility checklist, and an online application for the program. Committee members conduct site visits and make recommendations for how businesses can become even more welcoming and accessible to patrons of all ages. Qualifying businesses and organizations receive a certificate and a window decal designating them “age friendly”, as well as a shout-out in the Portland Downtown Visitors Guide. 

The director of Portland Downtown is now a member of our steering committee and has been invaluable in promoting this program and other efforts to improve accessibility. In 2022, Age-Friendly Portland received an AARP Community Challenge grant to provide portable ramps and doorbells to businesses housed in historically protected buildings with entrances that are inaccessible for people with mobility challenges. We named the project Ramp Up for Accessibility. 

Unlike some of Maine’s more rural communities, Portland is able to offer a variety of transportation options for residents and visitors. Age-Friendly Portland has focused efforts on improving access to public transportation for older adults and those with mobility challenges. 

In 2025, Age-Friendly Portland received a Lifelong Maine Community Connections grant to purchase benches for Portland bus stops frequently used by older riders. The Bench Project required collaboration with a number of partners such as the Greater Portland METRO, Portland Public Works, and the Greater Portland Council of Governments. Implementation of this project presented “challenges” in terms of making our goals a priority for partners with already full plates, which resulted in some difficulty in meeting deadlines. As always, Lifelong Maine provided the encouragement, support, and flexibility needed to get us over the finish line. 

With this experience in mind, my advice to newer age-friendly communities is this: try to implement changes that feel right for your town, understanding that there will be bumps along the way. Use all the tools and resources that are now available to livable communities in Maine. Don’t try to do everything perfectly, but do what you can, stay true to your mission, and celebrate the wins!